PM Modi likely to flag off first driverless train in Delhi on December 25

New Delhi, Dec 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to flag off the country's first driverless metro train later this month in the national capital. The train will be flagged off on the Magenta Line (Janakpuri West- Botanical Garden) of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), they said.

According to sources, "A proposal has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office to flag off the driverless train around December 25," a source said. "Our driverless metro train, which will be the first in the country, is ready to be flagged off. We have made all preparations on our part."

Delhi Metro had begun its commercial operation on December 25, 2002, a day after the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated DMRC's first stretch, spanning 8.2 km from Shahdara to Tis Hazari with just six stations.

Presently, the DMRC has 10 lines with 242 stations and on regular days, the average daily ridership of the Delhi Metro is over 26 lakh.

The Delhi Metro driverless trains are to operate on the Magenta Line and the Pink Line, made as part of the Phase-III of the DMRC.

In September 2017, the Delhi Metro had started full signalling trials of its new 'driverless trains' along a 20-km-long stretch on the Pink Line, which was yet to be commissioned back then. The trials were to test the automation of the new metro trains, equipped with Unattended Train Operations (UTO) and CBTC (Communication Based Train Control) signalling systems, which will significantly increase their frequency.

Having six coaches, the driver-less trains are equipped with several advanced features. These new trains of the Delhi Metro have undergone significant technological as well as eco-friendly upgrades and many additional features have been added to increase passenger comfort.